Saturday, April 11, 2009

Dy Commandant among 10 CRPF men killed in Naxal attack

Raipur, Apr 10 (PTI) Ten CRPF personnel, including a Deputy Commandant, and three suspected Naxalites were today killed and 11 jawans injured in a fierce encounter in Dantewada district of Chattisgarh, an attack which comes barely a week ahead of the Lok Sabha polls here.

The incident took place in the forests of Kotampalli in Dantewada when the troops of the 55th
battalion of the force, who were on a patrol in the area, walked into an ambush set by Naxalites, sparking a gun battle.

Deputy Commandant Diwakar Tiwari, a sub-inspector, four head constables and four constables were killed in the encounter while 11 others including an Assistant Commandant were injured, a CRPF officer said in New Delhi.

At least three Naxalites were also killed.

One AK-47 rifle and a few wireless sets have been recovered from the site of the encounter, the officer said.

Dantewada Superintendent of Police Rahul Sharma told PTI that Naxalites attacked the patrol unit near Minta village under Chintagufa police station, about 200 km from the district headquarters.

The combing operation in the area is still going on to nab the fleeing attackers and further information is awaited, the CRPF officer said. PTI

India-ASEAN summit postponed

New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) The India-ASEAN summit scheduled for today at Pattaya has been postponed following anti-government demonstrations in Thailand.

Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath had reached Pattaya yesterday, representing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the summit.

The summit was to review the progress of signing the free-trade agreement between New Delhi and the 10-nation South East Asian trading bloc, an official said here.

Nath was also to participate in the East-Asia summit.

India-ASEAN and the East-Asia summit, comprising countries like Japan and China, were to coincide with the ASEAN summit at the Thai Holiday Resort which saw anti-government demonstrations. PTI

Car exports from India surge 57% in FY''09

Date : Apr-11-2009 13:33

Despite of the global economic crisis, the Indian carmakers have been expanding their presence overseas with exports from the country registering a growth of 57.04 per cent in the last fiscal. According to the figures released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the exports of passenger car from India touched 3,31,539 units in FY09 as compared to 2,11,112 units in the previous financial year.

Hyundai Motor India reported an export growth of 63 per cent at 2,35,345 units as against 1,44,440 units last year period. In line with this, Maruti Suzuki India, registering a growth of 32.58 per cent in overseas sales at 68,834 units in 2008-09 as compared to 51,916 units in the last fiscal. The exports of overall vehicle from India grew by 23.60 per cent at 15,30,660 units in the previous financial year, while the same stood at 12,38,333 units in the previous fiscal, SIAM said. The growth in exports last year was robust also in the two-wheeler category that registered a growth of 22.50 per cent to 10,04,174 units as compared to 8,19,713 units in the previous financial year. The surge in two-wheeler exports was led by Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) followed by TVS Motor Company and Bajaj Auto Ltd (BAL), with the sale of their motorcycles. While HMSI''s exports increased by 68.83 per cent at 41,769 units, TVS and BAL witnessed a growth of 55.07 per cent and 31.09 per cent to 1,77,993 units and 6,31,383 units respectively in their overseas sales, SIAM said.

However, Hero Honda reported its bike exports fell by 11.38 per cent at 78,176 units against 88,219 units in the previous fiscal. Meanwhile the exports of scooter and three-wheeler exports jumped by 1.51 per cent and 4.84 per cent at 25,865 units and 1,48,074 units respectively in the last fiscal over the previous fiscal, SIAM said.


Reliance MF gets Lipper Award in Gulf Region

Date : Apr-11-2009

Reliance Mutual Fund was awarded with a Lipper for its performance in Reliance Banking Fund (Retail-Growth Plan-Growth Option) for a period of 3 years in the Gulf region in the recently-held Annual Lipper Award ceremony in Bahrain.

In addition, the fund house won four certificates for its performance in Reliance Regular Saving Fund-Equity Plan-Growth (3 years), Reliance Growth Fund - Growth Plan (5 years), Reliance Bankingg Fund Retail-Growth Plan-Growth Option (5 years) and Reliance Growth Fund-Growth Plan (10 Years).